Presiding Officer threatens to place sanctions on DEP

The past week has been a rollercoaster! It’s been just three days since the DEP dumped a new set of data on us. And today we learned that Presiding Officer Jane Rothchild is considering posing sanctions on the DEP in response to their unethical move. She states, “The Department’s delay in disclosing the data to the other parties to the appeal until after the close of business on May 16, 2019, is unacceptable and may warrant the imposition of sanctions against the Department pursuant to 310 CMR 1.01.” She has requested the Department reply to a set a question by 5 PM tomorrow, May 22. The DEP must inform her of when they first received the data, who received the data, why they waited so long to send it, and did they share the data with Enbridge before sharing it with the petitioners.

This is a really big deal. It is time for the DEP to be held accountable for their actions.

“That delay in turning over the full air analysis now puts the department at risk of sanctions after a department attorney responsible for overseeing legal challenges demanded answers to key questions and full email transcripts containing any discussion of the new information. Beyond that, the updated data — which opponents say shows significantly higher carcinogen levels than previous reported — casts uncertainty over whether the air-quality permit for energy giant Enbridge's proposed facility will remain in effect. “ (WBUR/SHNS)

You can read more below:

WBUR - Compressor Station Permit Based On Incomplete Air Tests, State Admits (link)

Weymouth News - Air quality data for Enbridge questioned (link)